One of the greatest tragedies in our society is the fear of making mistakes. Nothing is wrong or bad in making them whether it be for lack of knowledge, lack of experience or even at times lack of judgment. They are simply steps in our normal learning process. If we condemn error, we must also reject progress.

Being a leader takes courage and that means understanding that you will at times fail. It’s not about the mistakes you make, it is about what you learn from them. Mistakes make leaders better leaders.

If you allow the fear of making a mistake to affect your work or your personal life, it will stifle your initiative, your creativity, and your ability to think clearly and constructively.

Because of fear of failure, you may develop an unhealthy attitude toward every situation. Because you’ve been told you must not make a mistake, you don’t attempt anything new…you refuse to learn…you become apathetic… and you live a life of mediocrity when you are really destined for GREATNESS.

The truth is that mistakes are human, natural, and many times unavoidable. Mistakes in themselves aren’t important…but your attitude toward making them can either strengthen you — or destroy you.

If making mistakes haunts you, I suggest you revise your attitude. This means you must change your habit of thought. You’ll notice a tremendous improvement in all areas of your life if you do so. This can only happen though by first changing your behavior.

Here are 7 behaviors to overcome the fear of making mistakes:

• Believe in yourself. Believe that it’s okay for you to make a mistake, regardless of any situation’s outcome.
• Clarify your goals. The more clearly defined your goals are, the more likely you are to press on after making a mistake. This is because you know where you are going and are motivated to get their, in spite of the obstacles you may face.
• Consider every mistake as a lesson…a stepping stone forward. With such a positive attitude, there’s only one way to go…UP!
• Continue to take action. You learn by action, not by theory. When you’ve aimed toward a high personal goal and you’re temporarily thrown off course, an attitude of positive expectancy can correct your course.
• Start to journal about your day. Writing will help you look back and look forward. It will help you avoid making the same mistakes. In this journal simply answer these three questions: What went right today? What went wrong? What major lesson did I learn?
• Stop blaming others for your mistakes. I have already said that mistakes shouldn’t be a negative, so stop throwing the blame for mistakes on someone else. Taking responsibility for your mistakes helps you grow as a leader. It helps you understand your own flaws and work to overcome them.
• Forgive others. This one is difficult for most people. Understand that you will make mistakes and so will your employees or your friends or your family members. When they make a mistake, forgive them even if they don’t ask for forgiveness. Life is too short to hold grudges. And guess what? Not only will the other person learn from their mistake. They will learn from your forgiveness. And you will feel a lot better.

So dive in today! Make all the mistakes you can. Involve yourself in all the events or happenings you can crowd into one day not worrying about negative outcomes.

Raise your goals higher, and say to yourself:

“I will stop worrying about making mistakes.”

“I will take responsibility for my own personal growth by learning from my failures.”

“I will not blame others.”

“I am the BOSS of my Life!”